The destructive power of a 9-month old

Natalie now likes to take the fun zoo play land she has and turn it upside down, and then drum on the bottom of it.

Fun Smiles

Some of Natalie's charming moments!

Got a couple photos of the newest hot babe at Fort Riley--beautiful Lucy Elizabeth!!

And here are the beaming parents and Gramma--only one guess who got to hold little Lucy most of the time. Joe was actually much more thrilled than he appears in my photo--must the the camera operator (either that or his leg was acting up again).

Natalie's Famous Sleep Pose

Above, you will see a few pictures we have of Natalie Jane in her famous sleeping pose. Below is the world-renowned video I shot of Natalie and Katie sleeping in the same pose. No, I did not stage these poses! I woke up early one morning in December and found them asleep like this. Hilarious!
-Shea

Utes go down in flames... because they're flamers

Hey guys. This is Wendy and I three rows from the ceiling at the BYU v Utah game on Saturday. Fortunately, the good guys won. This is my victory face... Wendy is awed by its awesomeness as you can see.




Look closely... these are the Utes' pregame stretches. Complete with yoga bands and ethereal music! ... Ok I lied about the music but the bands are real. They were on the floor for like fifteen minutes, just showing off their spandex. It was great.



This was at a volleyball game. I don't know what I was doing.... trying to look like Joe I guess.



This video is of some game footage. Rock on.

We really dug the pictures of Emily looking angry. She's awesome. Sorry you're feeling so stressed Ben. I can't believe you're home teaching 14 families! That's insane. You should get an enano or something! We're doing good out here. I just signed up for the Army HPSP program. We'll know if I get the scholarship in about two weeks. We want Lucy pictures... we demand them. We also demand that some good names be left to us by ye elder brethren. What gives? You're all required to name your next child something weird like Yolanda so we can still have some good names. Aight? I'll take your silence for acquiescence.

Deer in the Headlights

After I made the comment about Emily's deer in the headlights expression (see below), I went through our archives and found more of the classic face.  This one we're thinking of submitting to the "cutest daddy-daughter photo contest."  What do you think?

I really don't know where she gets it from.

Stressed Out

Ben has been stressed out lately.  I took this picture after church...I don't think he even knew.  He has been super busy with overseeing his unit's redeployment back to Campbell.  They will come in on five different flights.  The first one is this morning.  Happy day!  Ben has also been overwhelmed with his church calling as Ward Mission Leader (lots of meetings) and as a home teacher (he has 13 families...don't ask me how, but he does).

Hodgepodge pictures

Emily makes classic facial expressions, especially when we go to take her picture.  My family got a huge kick out of how much she scowls as can be seen in these pictures.  These were taken with two of her cousins on the Blackburn side.

These are our friends the Thurstons.  They are cool because the are from Utah and are diehard Jazz fans.  They came over to help us celebrate Lincoln's birthday and eat our Lincoln Log roll with us.  And watch a Jazz game.  Nancy and Pat will remember this cake from last year.  

Wedding Weekend

My brother's wedding in SLC was very nice, once we got out there.  We arrived at the airport in Nashville to find that our flight had been cancelled and we ended up being stuck at the airport for 7 hours.  Ben was super disappointed because he had planned to go night boarding with my brothers that night, but we didn't make it in time.  Dennis got married on Valentine's Day...the continual light snowfall made it a very picturesque and romantic day in SLC.  A deer in the headlights is also another common expression Emily makes to the camera.

Super Super Bowl

Hey guys, this is Wendy. I finally dug my poor neglected camera out for our Super Bowl Party. Turns out it was a great idea, thanks to Katie and Natalie!

So Katie was kind enough to bring some yummy cheese appetizer things. Fortunately they came in a conventient plastic container. "All you need to do is bake at 350 for 10 minutes!" she claimed. So we plopped them in our easy-bake-size oven and let them cook away while we watched the game. After about 7 minutes I happened to peak in the oven and immediately yelled for Katie, while trying not to burst a gasket laughing, when I realized that the "convenient" plastic container had completely melted and the yummy cheese things were making their way to the oven floor. A few fortunate ones were fat enough to get stuck between the wire in the racks. We strategically manuevered them to a cookie sheet and decided they would still taste the same even if they weren't all in one piece. Most things do, right? Fortunately, nobody suffocated from the fumes of burnt plastic.

Natalie had herself a little Hitler mustache. It was actually much better before this picture was taken.

Classic Natalie pose. I swear she gets cuter and cuter every time I see her.